Sony’s PlayStation Vita is one literally hot portable game console, with various reports noting it as a fire hazard which tends to overheat while it is being charged.

Though gadgets getting hot while their batteries are charging isn’t really strange, the thing with the PS Vita is that they are alleged to heat up to dangerously high degrees while charging, high enough to coerce Japan’s Trade Ministry in initiating an investigation over the matter.

Since its release, a number of incidents pertaining to overheating have revolved around the PS Vita, with Sony quoted to note that they are aware of these overheating cases and incidents, which are tallied to be at 31 known cases.

8 of those 31 cases are said to have happened in the United States, Europe and Australia, as 23 cases have been reported to have happened in Japan.

Sony’s statement over the said overheating issue of the PS Vita quotes, “We believe the cause of the burnouts is that the cable got wet or had something stuck to it. There is no defect.”

However, Sony’s statement hasn’t stopped Japan’s Trade Ministry in calling for the investigative capabilities of the National Institute of Technology and Evaluation, an independent office that is working with the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry of Japan.

Given the now-relatively cheap price of portable gaming units like the PS Vita, the proliferation of such gadgets in many households is one which can be pegged as an expected to be scenario.

If a particular gadget is prone to overheat, thereby becoming a potential fire hazard, the safety of its users has to take priority over anything else. With the investigation still ongoing, an official say over the overheating tendencies of the PS Vita is yet to come out, but once it does, we’ll be sure to jot details down here.